Top five licks (not what you're thinking) - I mean guitar!

[sausage]

Listening to some Iron Maiden in the garage today came up with this thread blah blah...

So what's your top five guitar solos?


1. Rainbow - Stargazer

Ex-Deep Purple guitar whiz Richie Blackmore ejaculating from his fret basically. 1976 it came out and I first heard it in 1980 aged 12 and it CHANGED MY LIFE.


2. Judas Priest - Beyond the realms of death

The most emotional piece of finger work I've ever heard.


3. Marillion - The web

English art-rockers with a Scottish poet called Fish as frontman and a technically excellent bunch of musicians. Not as heavy but still packs another emotional punch.


4. Megadeth - Hangar 18

Quite simply, if you want to get a white trash party underway, just light a fire in a 44 gallon drum and crank this song up to full volume; air guitars and hair EVERYWHERE.


5. Iron Maiden - Alexander the Great

I could have picked any one of my favourite band's usual excellent tracks but I chose this oft forgotten gem. To me it just 'fits' this song. Every time I hear this song I stop whatever I'm doing and close my eyes and pretend I'm Adrian Smith.


Honourable mention: Dragonforce - Revolution Deathsquad

shutup Shutup SHUTUP!! It's just poetry in my ears that's all. So what; my missus says I'm cool and that's all that matters.

[BB2K]

I couldn't really put them in an order, but here we go.

Iron Maiden - The Longest Day
Joe Satriani - Always With Me, Always With You
Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather
Metallica - Fade To Black
Megadeth - Tornado of Souls

[Watchers]

Alexander the great was such an epic song right up until the end -

"AAAAALEXANDER THE GREAAAT!
He died of fever in Babylon!"
...

Anyway, there are better Maiden solos imo - Stranger in a Strange Land springs immediately to mind.

Solo is at about 3:30
c1fU_FzSQDA

From Metallica, I'd say Fade to Black (the end solo), Nothing Else Matters and Welcome Home all have awesome solos.

If I think of more I'll post them.

[sausage]

Anyway, there are better Maiden solos imo - Stranger in a Strange Land springs immediately to mind.


A great solo yes and I just about put that before my choice but.... nah, just something that's all, maybe the shit lyrics.

[Silverwolf]

The vast majority of solos bore me. I can't even think of one I could nominate for this thread!

[Watchers]

The vast majority of solos bore me. I can't even think of one I could nominate for this thread!

Generally, I agree, but there are some awesome ones out there.

[au4onx]

man y'all are heavy (not that there's anything wrong with that! I love me some heavy) and I can't argue with those choices :).

Here are my (personal) favourites:

1. Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin
2. Voodoo Chile (slight return) - Jimi Hendrix
3. Cause We've Ended As Lovers - Jeff Beck
4. War Pigs - Black Sabbath
5. Crossroads - Cream

[StorminNorman]

Neil Young - Cortez The Killer.

/thread.

[jawsy]

The solo in Propagandhi's Iteration. Totally slays.

[Munky]

I'm a big fan of the solo in Disposable Heroes.

Being a pure thrash song you'd expect a pure shred solo but instead it is something more melodic.

For a single note nothing beats the bend toward the end of Comfortably Numb. Probably the greatest note ever played.

Blue Sky by the Allman Brothers is also a fave.

[Sytadel]

I'm not huge on solos, and to be perfectly honest I'd probably just nominate a bunch of Dream Theater solos if given free reign, but in the interest of providing a more diverse selection... not my top 5, but the top 5 that came to mind:

Dream Theater - Lines in the Sand (hard to pick "guitar solo" since so many are twin synth/guitar alternating solos)
Opeth - Master's Apprentices (the acoustic bridge that begins around 5:20)
Hendrix - Freedom (not much of a solo because the bass line is awesome too)
Mastodon - The Czar solo (love the buildup at 8:20 or so)
Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation - The little solo around 2:45 is a little gem, very potent solo.

It's hard to evaluate solos on their own merit, unless you're looking at pure technical wankery.

[AranchineD]

It may be almost be a cliché for these types of threads, but I am quite fond of the solo in One. It's like the whole song is just a build up to it, and when it hits, it hits pretty damn hard.

[Silverwolf]

What bugs me about this thread, is that i interperet 'licks' as basically any guitar riff, not a solo. A solo is a solo.

[Blue]

No Django Reinhardt from anyone?

Pfft.

And a lick isn't a solo.

[Fenrir]

EDIT: @Blue: true that; some (most) of my picks go beyond the main lick in size, but it's mainly an attempt to capture context.

Righto, I'll pick these for their quirks, for how their accompaniments make them shine, and otherwise pretty much ad-hoc.
Pre-edit: expect this to get very wordy - Lex can suck my unwashed wang if he feels like dropping another one-liner over it.

Carcass - "Blind Bleeding the Blind" - 0:28-0:50, particularly the end of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnSHMPyI0yk

At this point, all of cock-rock can pretty much pack their gear away and go home - they've been upstaged by a melodeath act.

Many honourable mentions on their Heartwork album, including the intro to the title-track.

Alestorm - "The Quest" - 3:11-3:22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE4h-YTNX7I

Apart from ****ing arr!, nothing further to add.

Chris Brooks - "Kryptica" - 3:59-4:12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-vROaEmgcs

A salute to Australian guitarwork :cool:
Whilst ever the virtuoso type, I picked him for his epic compositional chops, which always seem to come before pure wanklitude. Track is worth hearing right through - especially this performance footage, as it only serves to allow him to add little flourishes throughout - but I've highlighted the peak of this composition for the thread.

Keep Of Kalessin - "A New Empire's Birth" - 5:00-end
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poCO91tUY3U

Kolossus is a very epic album, but this is the crowning moment. Surely a good half of Norway's BM scene sat up and took notice when this arcane lead, resounding majestically over the almighty stampede of the final chorus, lead listeners head-on into this landmark album. Amazing stuff.

Blind Guardian - "And Then There Was Silence" - 4:58-5:12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snwvpJ7DxyY

**** it, just listen to the entirety of A Night At The Opera - this album is magical ****ing diamond-studded fairy-dust of gold. It's so difficult to pick a zenith of guitar mastery in here, because the leadwork weaves such a vital contrapuntal thread into the shining mythril tapestry of these stunning compositions, that it becomes far too difficult to simply appreciate a lick on its sole merits.
Hell, I only chose this one because of the sexily ominous harmonic texture - I always eat that sort of thing up.

And keep in mind: this, about such a Prog/Power Metal band with such pronounced vocals, coming from me, is ****ing saying something. >_>

Honourable mentions go to:

Michael Angelo Batio - "Prog" - 2:15-2:30 (so, practically the "chorus")
As MAB tends to be anal about what material goes up on YT for free without his self-promo spiel, I've elected to hand this one over to a very real candidate for Australia's best guitarist, Jimmy Lardner-Brown:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAfl2K***9E

As this is a thread dedicated to lead-men, no legit list can go without a proper smattering from the virtuoso crop - so this is one of them. I'd say this ranks up there with "Canon Rock" as the sort of enjoyable track any guitarist should nail to earn their virtuoso wings. ;)

Necrophagist - "Fermented Offal Discharge" - 3:01-whenever, really
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SRD6mjrUMo

Muhammed, you ****ing wizard. That is all.

And finally, I leave you with...

Fernando Miyata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El2DUntbavE

**** details - just listen to the track, and have your mind blown. :eek:

[Silverwolf]

Borknagar - Colossus, from 12-25 seconds and the last 20 or so seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=AU&hl=en-GB&v=L75EgBXWfuU
I absolutely adore this song, its nothing like you would ever expect from a black metal band, it isn't even black metal!

I agree with Blind Guardian's A Night At The Opera, Fenrir. That album is a masterpiece. Kolossus is also a brilliant album.

[Watchers]

What bugs me about this thread, is that i interperet 'licks' as basically any guitar riff, not a solo. A solo is a solo.

This. I assume SS was trying to make a forced double entendre.


I agree with Blind Guardian's A Night At The Opera, Fenrir. That album is a masterpiece.

This. Probably my favourite album ever. Also, I love that you said the same thing as Fen without wasting three lines on technical bullshit ;)

[sausage]

Lick is Scottish for guitar solo. As I am Scottish I know this.

Bunch of sassenachs.

[Dorepoll]

Dinosaur Jr - Almost Ready

Solos aren't metal exclusive.

[Lazlow]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lick_(music)

Not neccesarily a riff, but not always a solo. And it mentions nothing about Scotland.

At work so here's one off the top of my head;

Dimmu Borgir - Blessings Upon the Throne of Tryanny
That intro just spawns a frenzy.

[Fenrir]

This. Probably my favourite album ever. Also, I love that you said the same thing as Fen without wasting three lines on technical bullshit ;)
**** you, you ****ing ****. :mad: Seriousy though, there were maybe 2 technical terms in there, neither used in any real technical manner. It was just gratuitous praise.

[fearofthesky]

Rage Against The Machine's performance of Bullet in the Head at the 1996 Rock am Ring has Tom Morello in exceptional form. The lick/solo in question (1:20-2:10) sounds nothing like the album version, I don't know how the heck he does that with the guitar plug, but it and the solo are amazing!

Watch the whole song the shot of the mosh is incredible!

5dZg9QQSJGs

[Blue]

I never have rated Morello. He's gimmicky. Slash versus Morello in GHIII was the perfect example of a proper solo and a bullshit solo.

[fearofthesky]

I never have rated Morello. He's gimmicky. Slash versus Morello in GHIII was the perfect example of a proper solo and a bullshit solo.

I do agree its not a 'regular' solo, I probably should have mentioned that in the post! I just think it sounds cool is all, better than the album version.

[Pauly]

good guitarist will always mix up their solos live!

[Dorkify]

Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter

Perfection...

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From 2:19 to 2:43.

Really suits the song.

[Fenrir]

good guitarist will always mix up their solos live!
^This.

I'll even go so far as to say this is one of the only reasons to bother seeing a band live. Bands that just get up and play perfect renditions of their recorded work may as well be replaced by a CD player.

[sausage]

^ Leads to more wankery though - Richie Blackmore I'm looking at you.

Also drum solos are a waste of time live - who cares.

[big_b]

A good drum solo can be amazing live. I saw this band here in england on the local circuit that pull out all the led zeppelin style gimmicks (violin bow, big extended jams etc) and the very last song was a cover of Moby Dick and the drummer did his own take on the drum solo which was just amazing. Such raw talent.

[AranchineD]

Drum solos are awesome, I don't like you anymore

[Pauly]

I'll even go so far as to say this is one of the only reasons to bother seeing a band live. Bands that just get up and play perfect renditions of their recorded work may as well be replaced by a CD player.
that's usually my criteria for seeing bands. e.g. i saw bloc party a couple of years ago. they were absolutely flawless. amazing show. except it just sounded like i was listening to their cds on shuffle.

needless to say i didn't see them last time they came out and won't again.

muse however, i see every time they come out.